The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
by The Coffee Gladiator
Summary: A story describing the way that the boys met each other. Set when they're in first grade. Please R R!
1. Gordie and Chris

A/N: Yay! My first Stand By Me fic! It's basically just my little idea of how the boys met each other. Please review, reviews make me smile!

Disclaimer: I don't own. Sad but true.

"Good luck Bro," Denny Lachance whispered to his six-year-old brother as they stood together in front of Gordie's first grade classroom.

Gordie looked up at his brother with worried eyes. "What if nobody likes me?" He said, nearly inaudibly.

"Are you kidding, how could they not?" Denny replied as he affectionately ruffled Gordie's hair. "And," He continued, "I snuck some cookies into your lunchbox when mom wasn't looking."

Gordie flashed a small smile, their mother was a big believer in "health food" and he almost never got cookies for lunch, "Thanks Denny," He said, "I love you."

"Love you too. I'll meet you on the steps at three o'clock, okay?" The two hugged and Denny watched lovingly as he watched Gordie step into one of the three first grade classrooms.

He stood and watched through the door window for a moment, truthfully he _was_ worried about Gordie making friends. He was precocious and small for his age, easy material to get picked on.

Denny was slightly reassured however as he watched the teacher come over to Gordie and show him to a table where some other boys and girls were coloring.

Gordie was enjoying school so far, it wasn't too different from kindergarten, and they got markers that didn't have teeth marks from demonic three year olds. But the just as he was about to take a bite of his turkey on wonder bread sandwich, the last member of their class arrived.

Gordie recognized him right away, from one time when he and his mother had past him and his mother by in the supermarket. He remembered his mother muttering to Denny about how he came from a family full of drunks and criminals and how he was surely going to be a headache for the elementary school teachers. And Gordie had been taught by his strict father to never doubt his mother's words.

Instinctively, Gordie slid out of his seat and under the table where he pushed himself up against the wall, so that he could see everything that was happening, but no one could see him.

He watched as the teacher, Mrs. Briggs, came over and chastised the boy for being late. Gordie frowned, another boy had arrived five minutes ago and he hadn't gotten into trouble; maybe Mrs. Briggs knew about his family too. The boy was ushered over to the time out bench, where he had to sit for fifteen minutes for being late. And he would receive no sticker like the other boys and girls at the end of the day. The boy was a lot closer then and Gordie could see that his face was full of scratches and scabs. Uh oh, maybe he really was rough with other kids.

The day continued, and the boy, whom Gordie discovered was named Chris, was seated at a table with a pudgy boy, a girl who picked her nose, and hardly any working markers. Gordie felt a twinge of sympathy for him.

Then came free time, and Gordie blindly followed the other boys and girls out onto the playground, carrying his lunch box protectively. He had been saving his cookies all day, so that the other kids could be envious watching him eat them. What a stupid idea that had been.

All of a sudden a sixth grader came up to Gordie and pulled his lunchbox out of his hands. "What do you think you're doing?"

Gordie looked up startled, even if he had been expected to be bullied, he's have thought it was going to be by someone his own age. This kid was BIG.

Gordie shuddered and tried to speak, "I-I." He felt his upper lip begin to quiver involuntarily.

"I'll tell you what, since you're new to the rules of recess, I'll let you off with a small price to pay." The boy reached into Gordie's shiny new backpack and pulled out his favorite comic that he'd brought along for comfort on the first day.

He put it right in front of Gordie's nose, and to Gordie's horror began to rip the front page down the middle. Gordie looked around desperately for Denny. He was nowhere in sight. But someone else was.

"Leave him alone!"

Gordie and the bully both turned, surprised, Gordie even more so as he spotted the trouble boy standing their, hands on his hips. "Leave him alone, he didn't do nothing to you!"

"Why you little –" The sixth grader started in on Chris. 

"Mr. Merrill, what do you think you're doing?!" A teacher shrieked as she noticed how he had Chris by the collar. "These boys are six years old!" She angrily pulled him away from Chris and across the yard, back into the middle school.

"Sorry about him," Chris said kindly, reaching his hand up to help Gordie down. "He's friends with my brother and can be really mean to me too. I'm sorry he took your comic."

"That's okay," Gordie responded shyly, deciding that maybe his mother could be wrong sometimes. He hesitated for a second and then reached into his bag of cookies and held one out to Chris, "Do you want one?"

"Sure, thanks!" Chris exclaimed gratefully.

As they walked back inside a few minutes early since some crazy kid had jumped off of the swing set, Gordie contemplated what he thought about his new friend. He eventually came to the conclusion that he was still afraid of him, but in a different kind of way. Now he was more afraid that he would never be as brave as Christopher Chambers.

A/N: There's more coming about how they meet Teddy and Vern. Pretty, pretty please review! And be honest about whether or not it was good, because I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing. Thanks for reading!


	2. Getting in Trouble

A/N: Big thanks to: Nightcrawlerlover, WhisperingBells1959 and Girl-X-91 who reviewed! Here's the next part, I hope you like it! Please R + R!

On the second day of first grade, Gordie was dropped off by his mother, not his brother, and he knew he should have been happy about it. After all, she had dropped Denny off every day of _his_ first grade year, or so Gordie had heard. But Gordie was perceptive enough to know that the only reason she was coming, was to make sure, after hearing Gordie gush on and on about Christopher Chambers, that the two boys were put nowhere near each other during any activities.

Gordie prayed for a miracle that would stop his mother from talking to the teacher. And he got one.

That morning, a little boy, who Gordie recognized as the one who tried to jump off the swing sets, had been switched into their classroom, because apparently he needed a more disciplinary teacher than the one whose class he had been in before. And although Mrs. Briggs was the strictest teacher around, she still seemed to be having trouble controlling him as he bit at the classroom carpet and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Mrs. Briggs apologetically muttered something to Gordie's mother about talking to her at the end of the day, and luckily for Gordie, his mom was too distraught at the sight of this new little boy to notice Gordie slipping into a chair next to Chris's.

"Hi," Gordie greeted Chris shyly; suddenly worried that he might not remember him.

"Hi Gordie!" Chris said, the dull frown he had worn on his face suddenly melting away. "Do you know who the new boy is?"

Gordie, positively elated that the most feared six-year-old in school remembered him, shook his head unbothered. "No. Must have something wrong with him if he had to switch classes though."

Chris's small face looked troubled again, "Don't say that. It's not nice to assume things about people."

Gordie felt ashamed of himself; after all, he had automatically assumed that Chris was a menace, and look at how wrong he'd been? "I'm sorry," He replied guiltily.

Chris shrugged it off, "Don't worry about it. Oh, this is Vern by the way." He gestured politely to the pudgy boy beside him, "And this is Clarissa." Clarissa scooted her chair further away from them and murmured something about having to listen to her mommy; Vern, in contrast, gave a big grin and waved at Gordie. He obviously either did not know, or did not care about Chris's family's reputation.

"Alright class, it's time to begin," Mrs. Briggs bellowed at them, a bit more harshly than she'd probably intended, for she had finally managed to somewhat restrain the new little boy.

"We have a new student," She continued, just as maliciously as she had been when she'd spoken to Chris yesterday, "His name is Teddy Duchamp and he will be joining our class community." Some of the other children looked scared, as the little boy lifted his head and growled at them.

"Clarissa, please go sit at that table, I would like it if Teddy could be where I can easily explain to him what we're doing." Gordie knew what a fake excuse this was, and could tell that Chris did too; Vern didn't seem to get it.

Oh well, Gordie thought, trying to be optimistic, at least she didn't tell me to move.

Teddy sat in Clarissa's empty seat, and began to furiously scribble on a piece of paper.

"Hi," Chris welcomed him, dutifully following his beliefs about not judging.

The boy didn't answer.

"No talking Mr. Chambers," Mrs. Briggs said sharply, "It's time to begin our math."

She proceeded to write equations on the board, which the children would then copy, and raise their hands if they knew the answer. Every time, Gordie and Chris were the only two to raise their hands. And every time she called on Gordie.

Gordie stole and glance at Chris, and saw that he looked miserable. And so Gordie decided that he had to stand up for him just as Chris had done for him yesterday.

"Mrs. Briggs, I have a question," Gordie began timidly.

"What is it Gordon?" She replied kindly.

"It's just that…" Gordie said carefully, trying not to sound _too _cheeky, "Chris has all the right answer too, and you haven't called on him at all." He immediately regretted his decision to speak up as Mrs. Briggs approached their table, looking furious.

"Did he tell you to say this?" She demanded angrily.

Gordie shook his head hurriedly, "No ma'am, he-"

But she didn't seem to care what Gordie had to say, "Both of you, principal's office. NOW!" She screamed the last word, and Gordie found himself, running down the marble hallway in terror, Chris by his side.

Gordie was mad at himself, he had been trying to make he and Chris equals in a sense, but instead all he'd done is gotten the two of them in trouble. Next time maybe he would just keep his mouth shut.


	3. The Principal's Office

A/N: Here it is! Sorry that that took a little while, things have been hectic with the holidays and everything. Big thanks to: SilverRain1.3, Nightcrawlerlover, prettyinpink2165, fairy-wannabe and Camaraderie who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own it (sadly).

As Gordie and Chris sat outside the principal's office, waiting for him to meet with them, Gordie tried several times to speak, failing horribly each time.

He looked at Chris's face, he didn't seem angry, thankfully, just sort of bored. This reassured Gordie slightly.

"I'm sorry about this," Gordie finally mumbled, deciding that he would have to apologize before there was absolutely no hope left about saving his friendship.

Chris looked up abruptly, he looked a bit surprised, "That's okay, last year I got in trouble all the time for stuff I didn't do. "

"Oh," Gordie replied, not really sure how to show how badly he felt for his friend.

"Thanks for standing up for me," Chris continued gently, "You definitely shouldn't feel bad; no one's ever defended me before, it was worth getting in trouble for."

Gordie smiled unbelievably widely for someone waiting to see the principal and responded, "No problem. That's what friends are for." Later he kicked himself for adding that last bit, but Chris seemed to appreciate it.

Finally the principal stepped out of his office and spoke to the boys, "Well now, aren't you a little young to get into trouble on your second day of school?" He bent his knees slightly so that he was level with them, "Why don't you come into my office and we can talk about what happened."

Gordie found himself happy all of a sudden; his friendship wasn't gone and it didn't look as if they were going to get in that much trouble.

"All right, why don't we start with your names." The principal said, "I am Dr. Adams."

"I'm Gordon Lachance," Gordie said.

"I'm Christopher Chambers," Chris said.

"Oh," The principal commented. It wasn't that deflated kind of "oh" either, it was much more accusatory and exasperated than that. And Gordie could tell that Dr. Adams hadn't meant to say it out loud.

Dr. Adams's expression was stonier now, and much less forgiving, "Why did your teacher send you here." He asked in a very business-like way.

Gordie gulped, he was pretty sure that Dr. Adams's instant dislike of Chris was going to make him side with Mrs. Briggs."

"W-well," Gordie stuttered, figuring that it was his story to tell, "When we were doing math in class, Mrs. Briggs would only call on me, not Chris, even when we both raised our hands, and when I asked her why she- " He spoke so fast that when Dr. Adams cut him off he was panting, "You are never allowed to talk back to a teacher. And I am afraid that although you are only in first grade, you will have to learn your lesson by staying after school for detention. I will call your parents to tell them that they will have to pick you up late today."

Gordie felt his face get hot, Denny had only gotten detention once in his life, and he had been much older. Gordie remembered that even his dad, who thought Denny was the most precious thing in the world, had been furious. Gordie could scarcely imagine what they would do to him. And what was he supposed to say when they asked why he had gotten into trouble? They would be even madder if they knew it was because he had stood up for Chris.

Chris looked worried, and a bit angry as well.

"You boys may go back to class," Dr. Adams said.

They walked back at turtle speed, Chris dawdling behind and staring at the ground.

"Are you okay?" Gordie asked nervously, not wanting to seem too prying.

Chris didn't answer for a minute and then said, "I don't think my parents can pick me up. I'm supposed to take the bus, and I don't know how I'm going to get home."

This must be what mom meant by "bad family".

Gordie wanted to offer advice or reassuring words, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

A/N: I know, it's kind of short. Sorry! Please R + R! Thanks for reading!


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